Thanks for all the help you gave me planning my trip to NYC. It's obvious you can't do enough planning ahead of time, LOL! But I had a great time and can't wait to return.

Arrived LGA on Friday and had a good cab ride to Marriott Marquis in Times Square. Room wasn't ready, so we left our bags and went to John's Pizzeria for lunch. Wonderful service and pizza. Returned to our room (great room, nice sized after what I'd heard about NY hotel rooms, super comfortable beds, quiet rooms, excellent elevator service...never waited over a minute). Went downstairs and waited about 30 minutes at TKTS for tickets to Sweet Charity. It was drizzling rain, but the line moved quickly and we enjoyed chatting with others in line. Then we walked to the public library and toured thru it (gorgeous!) then over to Grand Central Terminal. Had cheesecake and coffee at Junior's, very good. Then caught the subway shuttle back to Times Square to change for the show. Show was excellent! Had dinner after the show at Bubba Gumps (I know, a chain restaurant, but it was good and it didn't have a line to get in).

Saturday went to Rockerfeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and shopping on 5th avenue. The sun came out so we went to Central Park and spent most of the day there, walked back shopping along the way, went to Bond 45 for dinner (very good!) then to Fiddler on the Roof. Another wonderful show, loved the set and of course, Harvey Firestein (sp?). After the show went to Sophia's for coffee and dessert. Food was good, service awful. Guess this was the snobby service you hear about, but this was the only place we found it. Every place else was terrific.

Sunday, took subway to South Ferry, then Staten Island Ferry past the SOL and back again. Caught cab to Brooklyn but he wouldn't take us across the bridge. Said the traffic was at a standstill and dumped us at the base of it. We saw a cop nearby and talked with her and she told us where to go to get another cab. Said lots of cabs didn't want to go to Brooklyn because they wouldn't get a fare on the return trip. So we walked a few blocks and a private car service offered to take us across the bridge. Once there we were lost so gave up trying to find Grimaldi's or the ice cream place and walked back across the bridge. We'll have to tackle Brooklyn again next time. The walk across the bridge was great and I'd highly recommend it. Then we walked thru Chinatown and over to Tribeca for lunch at Franklin Station, great food. Then over to Canal Street, a little of that goes a long way, LOL! Returned to 5th avenue area for more shopping then went to ESB. Ack, about an hour and a half wait even tho I'd already bought tickets, and we walked up the last 6 flights to avoid an additional 30 minute wait. Also walked down the 6 and still waited another 30 minutes for the elevator back down. But we enjoyed the view, it was dark and we had a full moon. Ate at Trattoria Trecolori (excellent) and shopped in Times Square.

Almost done. Monday we took a cab to Zabar's (fantastic) and shopped all the way back to Times Square. Had foot massages at Pinky's on Broadway, but it was too little too late, LOL. My feet were so sore. Time to leave, we were sorry to go.

Overall, had a fantastic time. Most people were friendly and helpful. It was harder to find places than I expected, even with addresses and maps. So the helpful people were appreciated. The subway was a bit frustrating, because I couldn't understand the announcements and we had to make some transfers because of changes in service. But we got where we were going. ESB experience was disappointing, only that view made it worthwhile. Would highly recommend the Marriott Marquis if you want to stay in Times Square. I so miss the wonderful food! Do not miss going to Central Park. It's fantastic. And go to all the shows you can. I'll hit the museums next time.

Thanks again to everyone who helped me plan the trip.

I'm so glad you had a good time! It sounds like you had a nice variety of activities, and hit a lot of the true highlights of NYC. Start planning that return trip!

Great report! To be that close to Grimaldi's..sigh. But I know exactly what you mean as after many trips to NYC is still get all turned around coming off a train downtown. I always walk 4 or 5 blocks in the wrong direction, trying to get my bearings!!! Love that town!

Great report, sounds like you had a
super time.
And now you have another reason to return
Gyppielou, we've been a zillion times
and also seem to walk the wrong direction - at least once lol.
All part of the fun lol.
Thanks for posting featherwatcher!

I know, and I usually have a pretty good sense of directions. I had looked at Google Earth and studied maps for weeks, and thought I was prepared. But I'm absolutely ready to go back. I was way ahead of my friends who had no interest in planning the trip. They had no concept of where they were on the island, or where the items of interest were in relation to our location. I just didn't prepare enough for Brooklyn. I'll get it next time.

Sorry you missed Grimaldi's. We ate there and the Pizza was delicious but there are a couple of other places in NYC that also serve pizza made in the old fashioned ovens. Bobby Flay did a show on Pizza on the Food Network but the Food TV site doesn't list the pizza places he mentioned. He did say he started working at Mimi's Pizza in NYC but haven't been able to come up with an address yet. Here is his recipe for pizza so perhaps you can make yourself one until you return to NYC.

I think what I enjoyed the most about Grimaldi's pizza was the fresh mozzarella cheese on it. Give that a try.

http://www.foodtv.info/food/recipes/..._13621,00.html

If anyone else saw the show and can remember the pizza places he mentioned, post em. Thanks

I have never tried getting tickets at the tkts booth. What time did you get in line? Were the tickets that much cheaper to justify the time spent standing in line?

Oh, absolutely use TKTS if you're flexible about which show. We already purchased advanced tickets for Fiddler on Saturday night, because one of the friends I was with really wanted to see it. When we got to NYC on Friday, the third friend said she'd like to see a show that night. We tried finding something by phone but couldn't get a deal. We were in the Marriott Marquis and had a view of the TKTS line from our window. They started selling tickets at 3pm and after about 45 minutes, the line was much less so we went down and got in line. We talked with others in line and decided on three different shows. When we got to the window, we chose the one of the three that had the best seats: Sweet Charity, and it was 50% off. Some of the others were only 35% off.

Barb

One note about discount Broadway tickets: depending on when you will be in town, always check BroadwayBox.com before you leave. This site lists many of the discount offers that are available, and often you can save 30-35% this way. It is absolutely worth it to avoid standing in line! But please note that it is unlikely discount offers are available during Thanksgiving and Christmas weeks, as these are prime Broadway selling times.

Thanks for the advice. I would rather have tickets in advance, but those discounts sure help if you want to see several shows. This seems like the best of both worlds.